Tuesday, December 13, 2005

I, ME, MYSELF

I turn 50 today ! Er... I mean this is my 50th post. This post is a reply to Leon's Tag where I am supposed to list 20 facts about myself.I really enjoyed doing this one. And like other tags I wish there were more than 20 points that I could list about myself. So here goes...and if anyone gets bored halfway through or earlier please click here and here for some light reading.

1. I am the youngest of three kids and was born a month premature. I spent the first month of my life in an incubator. The doctor told my Dad that I was perfectly normal enough to be kicked out of the incubator but he had to follow hospital rules and keep me in there. He advised my Dad not to wear off his knees kneeling and praying in the hospital chapel as I was doing better than most full term babies. My Dad sighed as he realized that he had missed a perfectly good opportunity to yarn to friends and family about how he pulled his daughter out of the jaws of death by kneeling down and storming the heaven with prayers. ( He can spin enough yarn to weave a blanket over the Himalayas)

2. I am a very forthright person and brutally frank too. I do not mince words. With these characteristics I do not know how I ended up in the communication business. I handle Communications for an IT company.

3. I have a curious mind and must get to know how things are done. So I learnt to cut hair, to make wines ( I am not kidding),embroider, knit, bake, carve vegetables, make candles, cake icing, flower arrangements, Bonsai, Ikebana etc. And if there is anything else out there to be learnt I will do it. And after I learn these stuff I buy books and try to learn more on these subjects. I try to perfect most of the things I have learnt. I have actually gone into restaurant kitchens befriended cooks and got recipes out of them. It is this passion for learning that made me pick up Photoshop, Corel Draw and Dreamweaver in weeks. I cannot bear to not know stuff.

4. I am a Crossword-oholic! I cannot sleep till I have completed every grid! ( I need help!!!)

5. My Dad is very liberal in his outlook; my Mom is a very conservative Pala Achayathi. I was never allowed to sleep over at friends house however my friends were always welcome to do so at my house. That’s the way my parents struck a balance between their views. I am glad I have little bit of the modern and little bit of the traditional in me. However my Mom still remains my best friend.

6. I rarely watch TV. And if I do watch it will be only comedy serials, English movies and Malayalam movies. I still love to put my legs over the sofa backrest and hang upside down on the sofa and watch TV (don’t ask me why). My mom is convinced that I was a bat in my last life.

7. I can actually make people puke their lunch out with my one-liners. Ask the crowd that sits with me for lunch in the cafeteria.

8. I can size up a person at first meeting. But I do not let first impression be the last impression. Every person in my mind is an open book. I just keep adding new chapters.

9. I once spent an entire day in Ooty following a Malabar Whistling-Thrush .I can identify over 50 different bird species. I can spend an entire lifetime watching birds with my Canon binoculars and not be bored with it ( the feathered kind mind u guys). Next birth I want to be reborn as a bird. ( ahem..the feathered kind guys!)

10. I rarely lose my temper except when someone treats me like a kid. This is what made me snap at two commenters on my blog, for which I am deeply remorseful.

11. In school and college I never confined myself to any group. I was welcome in all the groups from the literary types to the constantly-applying-makeup-types to the sporty-types to the nerdy-types.

12. I am too forgiving. I cannot hold a grudge for long. I am too cheerful a person for that.

13. I live in eternal dread of losing any member of my family. I rather die before that happens.

14. I am fastidiously neat. Cleaning up is my stress therapy. I am also a very organized person. At work it is me who usually plans out every Quarters schedule.

15. I work at break neck speed. That's because I work with utter concentration and the ideas flow thick and fast when I am faced with a creative challenge. I did this months Internal Newsletter including content and design direction in 3 hours flat. I need to slow down sometimes for the sake of my team mates.

16. I believe that it takes all kinds to make the Earth. So it is no point getting irritated at differing opinions or viewpoints. I believe in the live and let live philosophy very strongly.

17. I am a religious person, but constantly got into fights with the nuns in school and college over matters on religion. I still disagree with a lot issues in the Church, but remain steadfastly a Catholic.

18. I do not believe in love at first sight. I am too much of a realist for that.

19. I am equally comfy in my own company or with others. I can never get bored because I will always have something to do.

20. I hum 24 /7/ 365 days of the year. I love pop, reggae and country music besides old Hindi and Malayalam songs. At work you will never see me without my headphones.

Whew that was quite a job. I cheated by inserting more than one aspect of my personality in one point, but I still feel I have so much more to say. I am supposed to pass on the tag so I am passing it on to whoever would like to attempt it. Try it guys, you will be amazed how much you will enjoy it.

Excellent observations about yourself :), you were really candid and as usual your sense of humour is very apparent even when you describe yourself :). I particularly liked the 3rd point and the last sentence in bold.

whattay way to commemorate ur 50 posts in blogging! hw can we forget those 50 painful posts of urs.. :p iniyum athu vaayikkendi varumallo ennalochikkumbo evideyo oru njettal!! was nice following ur blog. i guess i have read all ur posts; be it the work-less days at hyderabad during my internship or those hectic times of academic pressure.. great going lady..

Point 3, cut hair, make wines, bake, carve vegetables, cake icing, And if there is anything else out there to be learnt I will do it. And after I learn these stuff I buy books and try to learn more on these subjects. I try to perfect most of the things ...gone into restaurant kitchens befriended cooks and got recipes out of them

@Moc: No comments till I get a real comment from you :)@Paveen: thank you. You still onsite? Miss your posts.@af: :)@Jithu: pinne 50th post ayikondu njaan ippom onnum parayunnila. But tomorrow is yet another day muahahaHAHAHAHA..but hey your posts are great. I still remember the verbal duel I got into with MoC on your blog :)@anita: thank you, I tried commenting on your blog but since I am the bad gal ( read open proxy) I was unable to :)

Congratulations of the 50th post. Keep writing. I have always enjoyed your brutally frank and humorous communications:-) So you too are a cruciverbalist. I too wrestle with the Hindu crosswords, but never am able complete it. I also used to write, ghost write, do the layout design, and publish the company newsletter when I was in Pond’s and it was fun…

As a celebration I will proceed to type out a long cliched speech.. err.. comment. First of all, thank you Silverine, for taking up the tag. I know you have been very busy of late... blah blah blah.. Thank you readers for your appreciation. I promise to bring you Silverine's 100th post too. Be sure to watch out for it. I will now present my comments on Silverine's twenty facts about herself.

*Readers listen with bated breath*

1. Glad you turned out ok.. I might have missed out on a good blog pal otherwise.. :p

2. I like it. I like it.

3. Wow! This is something that most people (me included) cannot do.. not so many things anyway.. We are content with just doing what we do well or doing what we have to do.

4. I used to be that way.. wonder where you find the time though..

5. I guess I can say the same.. Being a boy helps though.. :D

6. And I suppose she throws a fit too.. like my mom does when she spots my sis doing something like that.. as if girls are supposed to be seated in a dignified manner always.. bah..

7. I'm not so sure I like this one..

8. You can?! let's see.. :p

9. Interesting.. But I thought we did not believe in a second birth.. (got u there didn't I?.. hehe)

10. Tsk.. Tsk.. Bad girl.

11. And you're welcome in MINE.. :p

12. So I can get away with a lot then?.. :p

13. Who doesn't.. (sigh)

14. Err.. we might not get along after all.. :D.

15. Same here.. Nice work with the internal newsletter assuming the 'content' and 'design' turned out ok.. :p..

16. Ah.. "Live and Let Live".. If you use that phrase appropriately you could destroy me..

17. Ditto.. though I never got into a fight..... yet.

18. Ah.. we have a realist here.. :p

19. You can never get bored? We must talk some time.. Perhaps that will prompt a comment revisal.. lol.

20. Now I know what to pinch from you if I ever get a chance.. :D.

Lest you feel flattered at seeing such a long comment from moi, let me point out how cunningly I have interspersed an additional twenty facts about myself in your comment space where more people than ever will read it. Observe and learn from the ONE. :D :D :D

And btw, amidst all that applause I forgot to congratulate you for your 50th post.. so congrats..

I have ran out of adjectives to describe your post. Honestly I have a little MCP in me who believes that girls can't use computers and they prefer watching TV to reading books. Your post has changed my outlook to say the least. Of course cooking and home-making I thought were taught only in finishing school. Let me sleep as a tranformed man today.

1. Thats how u started out - by chilling out. No wonder that every1@ home quite protective abt u...and they named u "Grace"? ;-)2. Ok,no problem ;-)3. Capricorn, r u? - my OB teacher used to say that the human mind cannot bear an unfinished something...strives to close the circle...sometimes with the power of imagination...ladies n gentlemen, here we present a live specimen! Jokes apart, we need to quickly fix up a serious sensory appraisal of your culinary skills.Seriously.4. kind of flows from ur prev point - try this...nine letters, Artemis bow material bites away the first half of a carcajou.5.lol, thats until u get a boyf...thats when moms morph into ogres with third eyes...but somehow they morph back into gentle guardians soon enough...an endearing mystery of the universe.6. MAASCHA,TEECH ME KUNGFU!7. Er...quite proud of it,are we? ;-) The feminist movements answer to Calvin,what?8. Me the cynic - any exceptions till now to this glorious story of adding chapters?9. What a coincidence - I can identify birds too - some common species of Cochin are the overfeathered discochikka usually accompanied by the wafts of Chanel and a slinky supposedly sexy walk. Then theres the backfromgulfbirdika with a slightly fake accent usually loaded with more than one Dubai/Sharjah duty free shopper bags....rarely spotted is my fav-the freakychirpee - chirpy birds with views of their own and not afraid about informing the world about them. Sometimes a pain frankly speaking, but more often fun to be with.10. The pangs of guilt...how they bite! ;-)11. And you were quite the confidante but had only 1/2 close friends,didnt u...12. What else from someone who calls her blog "poomanam".13. Morbid as it sounds, I know exactly what you mean...this perpetual fear sometimes gnaws away at the soul...and needs a good dose of expensive shopping to dispelled...14. Amen to non-messy women of the world.The male species has enough of the other kind.15. Ah,ye good olde days of Saarang, Festember, Moon shadow and Deep Woods...of brainstorming, creative writing, quizzing, crosswording and jamming...sigh!16. Okie,okie ;-) We have no objections to the existence of such species on earth.17. Ah,gotcha,u inciter of teen rebellion among obedient Catholic girls...what awkward questions did u ask during your cathechism classes???18. no? ;-( U dont, but u wud like to,wouldnt u? ;-) There is a lovely Italian word for this in The Godfather - when Michael Corelone meets Apolonnia in some Sicilian hill...forgot what it was...19. I expected no less with interesting hobbies like hanging backwards on the sofa...do u also swing from the fan? Keep the fridge open and see if u can aircondition the kitchen?20. Do try some folk also...joan baez/nana mouskori..u would ike them too.

Again to quote my OB teacher, when we interact with anyone, we always find out more common about them than different...basic human nature, she used to say, to identify, to belong...I wonder if its true or if its you ;-)

very nice..for many reasons, it is extremely interesting to read about a character that you really dont know..and try and compare and figure out things about people you know and with yourself. no wonder blogs are interesting.

totally agree with you on the church aspects..theres a lot of division and politics out there.

what an impressive profile... i have a suggestion...put this on Shaadi.com...u might break records there.. except for the bird watching!!! that can be the most cruel thing a person can do in ooty... :))) nice one. live longer.

when geo did the tag i followed up and i finished keying in the post i thought i wuz being too brutally honest abt myself to the world and refrained from publishing it...but reading your post and how candidly you have written everything it made real good reading...and what makes it so good is that it has a light-hearted feel-good touch to it! nice one!

@Geo: Thank you Sir, for the English lesson ;) And your regards have been passed on :)@anthony: Congrats on your 50th!!!And best of luck with a funny marcomm hunt:))@HnL: havoo finally someone understands me:)) Thank you so much!@Vivek and Sujith: thank you :)@Shan: Glad you approve! ;)@rockus: Don't we all dread such thoughts!@ 1.618:Yes posture is very important to enjoy TV:))@Thanu: At last another kindred soul :)@Kickasso: I think you know what I am going to say to that MCP comment. So better leave your a***o someplace safe.

@lalith: They are incredibly light arent they? :))@Alexis:Thank you ! Yes I am a die hard Crossword addict. The tougher and the more cryptic the better. And congrats on that single handed newsletter endeavour.@Leon: *silverine takes a deep bow*Thank you Sir Leon for using my humble blog to further your interests . I am sure your admiring and devoted fans were thrilled by your fleeting presence on my blog. I have learnt much from your O great ONE! and I shall be henceforth using your blog to make my presence felt :))

@pcchandrahasan: That's one MCP less in this world. :))@Deepa: We have quite a few things in common!! And stiching or sewing is something I never liked. Hey your list of birds are impressive :))Why dont you try doing the tag? Maybe it wont be so hard to list and we will get to know a whole lot about you too :)@Poison: Congratulations on your 50th post too!!!! And thanks for the compliments.Read your latest post. Awesome!!!@Jagan:Yeah me is kindness personified cos you escaped the tag :))@ammo: No I am a Cancerian :)

@ganjaturtle:Artemis's bow was too obvious, you should have said "the hunter goddess" or something like that. But "carcajou" I had to Google and bingo I had my answer in a flash :))No thankfully I am not ‘Grace’ or ‘Miracle’ or something horrible like that! I am a Cancerian and Kung Fu? I gotta learn that !!! Adding chapters is an art, first you got to learn the art of observing people ;)Calvin? No way!! I have my own take on life ;) Your birding observations are Hilarious!!! I am guilty of pangs of guilt I admit :( I have quite a few close friends in fact. So the ganja turtle doesn’t like messy females? Any bad experiences?;) N, I didn’t stir any rebellions, but I was quite a thorn in the Nun’s side during Catechism classes :)) And I don’t secretly desire for a love-at-first-sight kinda situation in my life. I just don’t think it is possible , Italian or no Italian :)) Swing from the fan, hmm... interesting thought. Now why didn’t I think of that?!?!!? ;)) About your OB teacher...she is partly correct, you do interact to find out more about another person, but looking for common interests sounds too needy =)) To identify and to belong? No never !!! I am not that needy ;)

@mindcurry: I too love to read tags like these and doing this tag was a revelation in itself.@Lash: Shaadi.com??? That’s a place no sane girl will go even if they are giving a date with John Abraham free lol @Susubala and Dinesh: Thanks :)@dr pissed: Alike? :))@Jiby: I sincerely hope you post that tag. I would love to read it. @nagu: Yes, I did enjoy doing this tag!@KD: 60 or no 60 , I look forward to your comment :) And sorry to burst your bubble, but you sound very normal to me with your choices LOL@wbix: Will await your precious comments:)

Loved reading it, Silverin:)I always wonder whenever you drop by my blog, as to how you would be. Your 20 thingies, said a lot about you. I actually WOWED over the point#3..Great way to study and enjoy:) I am blogrolling you..:)

Hmmmm...thought of that Artemis funda, but then didnt want to throw too hard a googly at lil gurly...when u going to write abt ur friends? So the ganja turtle doesn’t like messy females-in Cochin ??!! Naaah,1st I have to find the wimmens and then check their messiness quotient-doesnt look like its happening ;-( Swinging from the fan-Now why didn’t I think of that-Cuz u already did it hajaar times? ;) I am not that needy-wasnt talking abt u,genius...was looking at the comments in ur blog...and each one seems to jump out and say" Yeah, me too - point X/Point Y etc". And this not so much as a search for identity blah blah as much as it is the sheer delight of finding some quirky trait in someone else which u thot only u had in the universe.

And when someone hangs upside down from the sofa for reasons other than Kung Fu or Yoga...hmmm...all I can say is that the human species evolves in mysterious ways ;-)Regressive sloth instincts,perhaps?

My question is "How do you manage to do all these?". Writing blogs, carving vegetables, going behind birds and of course working. You sure must be using at least 25 hours per day. (BTW the closest ones in the history who share the same traits are Ben Franklin and Tom Edison).

@Raysofsun:Thanks for blogrolling me and your kind comments:)@ganjaturtle:Check out girlwithbigeyes comment. Thats how we gals are. Regressive sloth instincts?? I think you missed Point No.14 ;)@Ursjina: they are yum arent they? :p@Meesamadhavan:Well birding is confined to hols at Ooty and Kerala. And I learnt most of these stuff when I was in college. My latest endeavour is Flash Presentations:)) And that trivia is very interesting.@girlwithbigeyes:*yipee* the second person who understands the lil quirks of being a girl, Thanks:)@lostintrance: LOL that was a unique compliment or what? thanks :)@safarial: Glad you enjoyed the "light reads" :)

@ganjaturtle: Kewl :)@dr pissed: thank you, thank you, thank you!! :))@kornkob: Thanks :)@Nithin:The slip betwen the cup and the lip ...:)))Great!!! I get a second comment from you :)@rohit and James Bright: Thank you!@Densel:Yeah! I am !!:)@danya: thanks gal pal.Initially I hesitated doing this tag, because i didn't want to be vague to avoid certain facts about myself. then i thought it would be therapeutic .. and it was!!!! Great to see so many people identifying to what I thought was my eccentricities:)

Thanks Leon for making this 50th post of mine so memorable. I could never imagine when I started writing this tag that I would end up writing 40 facts about myself!!! I literally had to apply the brakes ;))... a few grey cells are still smoking with the brakes being slammed on so hard :)) But I still felt I had so much more to say. Then I had to do one of the most difficult things I have done so far in blogging..and that was editing it to 20 points. Of course colorful language rent the air as I grumbled and mumbled my way through the unpleasant editing part :)) But the tag on the whole was an exhilerating experience! Thank you!!

"he can spin enough yarn to weave blanket over himalayas"..ahem arent all dads like that?? my dad used to claim that as a teenager he used to frighten off elephants in the estate that we had up in the hills. Much much later i found out that the only elephants which come that side are the tame ones brought there to move the felled trees. But then for a while as a kid..i was the son whoose dad frightened off elephants :).

wot the hell is ikebana?? is that something like the chinese water torture?..ok..wait..i dont even want to know!

ahem ..did ur mom mention whether u were a blood sucking bat or just a harmless fruit bat...i will go for the former (with a straight face!)

point 15 was amazing..i wish i could do that!! u are going places in corporate ladder. I think point 14 is the contributing factor to point 15!. Now i understand how u get so much time to blog!

these 50 blogs were something!, having gone through each n everyone of them i can tell u that u make people laugh n then think! :). very few people are there who can do it. here is wishing you another 5000 blogs!

Where do I start now..mmm...ok, we are neighbours in kerala (almost). I come from Thodupuzha. Point 12 suits me perfect. I'll make the first move for a reconciliation. Point 14 describes me 100%. I cannot stand untidiness in any form. Point 15..I'm a hard worker and strive for perfection. Point 16..Agree. Point 17. I'm not religious. At work you will rarely see me without my head phones. :-)

@MoC:Dads do spin some pretty amazing yarns,don't they? :)And yes,Ikebana is a form of water torture;) Very effective for arm twisting a nasrani :))About the bat thingie: if the bat is a nasrani then it will definitely be a blood sucking bat and reverse of it is an achyathi ;) (gotcha!!!!)"Now i understand how u get so much time to blog!" grrrrrr (STO)if that is the reason why I get time to blog I wonder why a certain someone has no time to blog.(gotcha 2nd time!!)"having gone through each n everyone of them i can tell u that u make people laugh n then think! Thank you so much :)And 5000 posts? Now that remains to be seen :)

@Leon:Alas! I deleted the other 20 points.@Ganjaturtle:lol on that comment:) About Nana Mouskouri..the very first song I heard of her was "old toy train" an Xmas song. It remains by fav :)@Biju: Why don't you do the tag? Thanks for your comment :)

@leon...hmmmm...ceteris paribus, I think that a certain crewcut just might swing things in my favour!;-) @silverine-if this continues, why do u need a new blog at all? ;-) And while ur at it, check out NM's version of amazing grace/over and over...nice balcony listening music on a Sunday evening wih a bottle of wine by your side and a fab Fort Kochi sunset in the horizon.

@Deepa: Thank you :)@Ganjaturtle: Will def chk it out.@Flaash: *removing gun from flaash's temple* ( forgive the leon overdose lol)Thanks for your comments. C'mon Flassh why dont you do the tag? All my tagees have been amazingly lazy fellows ( except Jiby and Geo). We would luv to get to know the andar ki baat of Flaash ;)...in case you get carried away by the andar ki baat bit, lemme hasten to explain. What I mean is the lil known interesting facts about the one and only Flaash Gordon ;)

ah well..i should have known..u did twist my arm so professionally!!. In fact it was twisted so bad with your ikebana stuff that i cant even type anything now. if u wanted me to stop blogging you could have just told me that!. I am now a disabled person learning to type with left hand. get ready for a law suit asking for financial compensation and punitive damages against such a vile act!

MoCPS: i shall get back at a later point on the aspersions that u cast against nasranis. We have called for an emergency meeting

"i am a catholic (premature baby) brought up in a mix of both traditional and modern values.i work for an IT company handles communication for them.personaly i am a clean and organised, who works very fast (but i do care for my slow working pals)well about me, my philosophy is simple : live and let live. i forgive easily and dont lose my temper. however i fear death of close relatives. i am brutally frank but i mix well in any group and my one liners are powerful.i can size up anyone in the first meeting but i dont belive in falling in love at firstsight.other than that i know to knit, bake, cook, make wine, cut hair, arrange flowers

But if Mr RR /or any guy wants a hyperactive gal who does not know how to slow down or diplomacy and tact,lashes out when someone treats her like a kid,spends her free time tracking birds and hums constantly driving everyone crazy...then it is his funeral. Maybe he should get a good divorce lawyer before marriage.. ROFL:))

Jeez ... I realize I am late to this party. I saw this post much earlier but had net connection trouble and couldnt comment earlier. Have to congratulate your 50 posts (all of them are amazing ones) and also on the matrimonial offers you are now receiving :-).

"But if blah blah blah....then it is his funeral" - Interesting...I can imagine: A guy trying to control laughter while balancing on the thin edge of sanity, watching certain species,who shall remain unnamed,hanging upside down from sofas when not blogging!

Hyperactive, tactless, mature sounding, bird tracking, hummvee sounds kinds of tolerable...but this hanging upside down from the sofa - can this wonderfully unique habit be negotiated and confined to certain prespecified hours of the day? Purely in the interest of avian sensibilities....not that anybody would have a problem with such spine tingling practices, ofcourse! ;-)

@ganjaturtle: Soon to be achayathi? Incase you didn't know I am an achyathi :))Mallu catholic gals are called achyathis

And about the divorce lawyer part ahh...you misunderstood me my friend, what I mean is that if Mr RRS wants to list my idiosyncracies as ideal traits for his life partner in his wedding classified then he will need a divorce lawyer soon lol

Ah...I knew it...was unreliably informed by an evil female consortium of office colleagues that "achayathi" is a "married" femal mallu catholic esp from Pala/Kottayam areas...they are quite jealous of my smiling/ laughing/grinning at the screen too often I think...or is it the Laetitia Casta swimsuit wallpaper?

had to return here today..i skipped listing 13 on your post last time cos thats the only thing i really worry about :( today someone i knew died quite young leaving behind her husband and two children. it tore me apart to be there and see the grief. the children are people i grew up with. anyway, somewhere in between everything and nothing, my thoughts tried to go where i forbade it. and your list item thirteen (13!!!) popped up.